Halloween
by yankees545
Summary: So this is a little story that's been playing on my mind.  What if something bad happened to Reid that made him like Halloween? Lil' Reid whump unBeta'd.


Halloween

_AN: I'm psychologiscally twisted but just leave me some feedback and let me know what you think! And I do not own Spencer Reid, which is probably a good thing..._

"Ok class, settle in! Act like the 8th graders you are!" Ms. L tried to draw her class's attention, albeit unsuccessfully. It didn't help that it was Halloween. First thing in the morning on Halloween. Her students were completely off the wall, admiring each other's costumes, trying to scare each other. Pinching the bridge of her nose in the attempt to ward off an imminent headache, she could tell that this was going to be a long day.

Ms. L was a young woman of 27. She worked as the High School Music and Drama teacher at Las Vegas High School. She had tried acting and singing professionally though there was always someone younger, skinnier, with longer hair, or was taller/shorter etc. Not that she looked bad, no, in fact many of the male students had had a crush on her at one point or another... She had decided to put her effort into a job where she was appreciated.

However, it was days like today that she wished she was still in the cut-throat world of Hollywood. Anything would be preferable over the wild children in her class this morning. She heard a short, half-stifled scream and then everything went quiet.

She looked around the room for the source. It was Spencer Reid. She inwardly groaned. It was _always_ Spencer Reid. The boy was socially inept in every way possible yet impossibly brilliant. Not a good combination when you had peers that were two years ahead of you. It was because of his father's influence that the age gap wasn't larger. She didn't have the patience to deal with this again this morning.

"For God's sake Spencer! It's Halloween, it's a practical joke! Everybody get back to your seats right now and behave yourselves!" She did a visual examination of Spencer from across the room to ascertain that he wasn't hurt seriously. He wasn't, not that she could see, though he was shaken up. She only briefly wondered what the prank had been before she began class for the day.

"Now that all of that is out of our systems, today we are going to go over the play that the high school is putting on right before Winter Break. We have a couple options, we can do Next to Normal, RENT, CATS, Les Miserables, or an original play made by us as a class. Has anyone heard of the musical called Next to Normal?" Ms. L was glad to see that she now had her students attention and that a few had actually heard of the play. Her eyes were drawn to Spencer Reid again. How did he know about this play? He seemed a bit young to know about it, it did have some mature topics... Who was she kidding, he seemed more mature than most of his 'peers.' She didn't notice his expression, if she had she would've seen just how much he understood it.

"Good! Good to see! Now, would anyone like to synopsize that play for your classmates who haven't heard of or seen the musical?" She scanned the room for volunteers but there were none at first. She frowned inwardly as her gaze passed over her youngest student who had quickly brought his hand down, he was normally her go-to when the class was uncooperative.

"Anyone? C'mon guys! I will pick at random..." She threatened. A couple kids exchanged glances before one of them, Anthony, raised his hand. Anthony was a popular kid. He played on the Varsity football and basketball teams despite being only a Sophomore. He almost never had to volunteer in class, almost never got into trouble, normally one of his friends would take the fall for him. But today he volunteered to answer the question. Ms. L missed the mischievous, smug look on his face when she called on him.

"Thank you Anthony! Please keep it short, remember, this is a summary." She smiled at him and gestured for him to speak.

" 'k, so basically it's a really messed up family," Ms. L motioned for him to continue, "The dad is clueless, the daughter is a freak prodigy-turned-druggie, the mom, she's really messed up. Completely mental. She's schizophrenic and sees her dead son and thinks he's still there with them. They are the main characters and there's this guy Henry who the daughter likes and there are psychologists that try to fix the mom. So basically it's Spencer Reid's life if they could afford a shrink. Psycho mom, clueless dad, and..." He shot Spencer a smug look before nodding to himself. The class started to laugh and the poor boy looked as if he wanted to sink through his chair into the floor.

"Enough! Anthony, that's not an appropriate thing to say! May I see you out in the hall!" Ms. L was mad. No, mad was the wrong word, she was livid. The class had been going well, then this idiot had to make the class go insane again! She left the room with him.

"You are being a distraction to this class with your inappropriate comments. You are going to go to the principal's office right now. I might send Spencer down in a few minutes as well. You are going to settle this before you return to class." She dismissed him and walked back into the class room which was once again filled with noisy chaos. She sighed and rolled her eyes. Her students saw her return and, sensing her bad mood, settled down and went back to their seats. She beckoned Spencer to her.

"Go down to the principal's office, you and Anthony are going to work this out and then you may come back to class. Go!" She prompted him before turning back to teach the rest of the class. _

Spencer Reid shook as he walked down the hall to the principal's office. When he heard footsteps he jumped, it was just a teacher walking to the teacher's lounge. He scolded himself for being so jumpy, but he couldn't help himself. After the morning he didn't trust the assumption that Anthony was already in the principal's office. He was in a state of hyper-vigilance, ready to bolt at the slightest alarming stimuli.

He reached the principal's office with no incident and was greeted by the secretary.

"Hello Spencer! Principal S is busy right now, can I help you?" She smiled sweetly at him. Her name was Mrs. Jane. She was in her late forties, early fifties and had infinite stores of patience and an ever-present smile. Spencer gave her a shy half-smile back and got closer to the desk.

"Ms. L said she w-would call... It's about An-Anthony..." He whispered to her. Understanding came to her face and she nodded slowly.

"Ok, wait right here for a moment, I'll see if he's ready yet." She got up and motioned for him to sit. He nodded and sat. She walked over to Mr. S's door and knocked he answered the door looking frustrated. She shared a few whispered words with him and he responded. Spencer couldn't hear them but he saw some glances towards him and some glances into the principal's office. Eventually Mrs. Jane beckoned Spencer over with a wave and a smile. He stood on shaking legs and walked over to them.

"Good morning Spencer, this is a new record... Not even 8:45... Let's see if we can fix this. Hopefully with better results and a lasting outcome." Spencer and Mr. S both inwardly cringed at the reference to the other incidents that had happened over the course of the 2 months Spencer had been at the high school. 'And,' Spencer thought, 'Mr. S doesn't know the half of it, I wish that was an exaggeration...'

Mr. S held the door for Spencer and he made his way into the room pausing as he saw Anthony glaring at him. Mr. S closed the door behind himself and sat down behind his desk, the two students sitting next to each other in front of the desk. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence before Mr. S spoke.

"So, I've heard a little about this morning from Anthony, would you mind repeating what you told me for Spencer, Anthony?" It may have sounded like a request but it was anything but. Anthony glared at Spencer out of the corner of his eye but his anger wasn't at all comparable to the discomfort that was evident in Spencer's body language.

"Fine. In music today I made an analogy between fictional characters in a play to Spence here's messed up family. I did what Ms. L asked me to, I synopsized the play and made it understandable to the entire class." Anthony hid his smirk well as he glanced at Spencer as the younger boy paled and shivered once. Mr. S's expression grew cold and disapproving.

"Do you have anything to add Spencer?" He weighed his options. He could tell about the prank or he could just let that part go. In a flash he remembered the incident from the morning.

_Spencer sat down trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. His peers filed in after him. Anthony, his friend Brian and Anthony's girlfriend Jessica approached him, calling out loudly, remarking on his 'costume.'_

_"Who're you supposed to be? A geek? Oh wait..." He paused to let the class laugh, he was in performance mode, and just getting started. "You do know that Halloween is the day you dress as something else right? Or do you not know how to do anything different than normal? Well, your normal I mean..." More laughter. Spencer sank deeper into his seat trying to ignore them. Only 2 more minutes before class would start. Anthony continued, "Oh My Gosh! Spencer Reid doesn't know how to do something! Well, besides with girls... Quick! Someone mark the date!" More laughter. 1 minute 45 seconds. "Or maybe, he just can't afford to get something else. I, personally, would jump at any opportunity to change myself if I were him. Missed your opportunity this year, kid." Anthony finished with a trademark grin and a pinch to Spencer's cheek. He tried to stop himself from reacting but he flinched. This was met by sarcastic 'awws' and snickers from around the room._

_Suddenly Spencer's vision went dark. Pitch black. He went very stiff, bringing his hands up to his face to see what was obscuring his vision as he tried to wriggle away. He stopped as he felt a hand on the back of his neck, right on the pressure point.. His breathing picked up. He began to shake._

_"What's wrong? Don't like the dark?" A female voice whispered in his ear. Jessica. He tried to get away again but the hand tightened on his neck._

_"Ple-Please s-stop!" His voice was little more than a whisper._

_"Stop what? This?" Said another voice, Brian this time. He applied more pressure the Spencer's neck. He couldn't fully stop the yelp from exiting his throat. The laughter died off and the object, some sort of cloth, was removed from his eyes. He met the gaze of his teacher and saw her frustration. Then she yelled at him. He was even more confused and hurt by that than by what Anthony, Brian, and the rest of his class had done._

It took seconds to remember the entire thing but still Principal S. cleared his throat, impatiently waiting for Spencer's response.

"No. No-nothing I want to add, sir." Spencer got a chill as he felt Anthony's gaze on him. He knew that he had said what the older student had wanted him to. Spencer rationalized to himself that the prank was his own fault. He'd been the one to react, he'd alerted the teacher. Ms. L was right, it was Halloween, it was harmless, he'd overreacted. It was best not to mention that insignificant thing, he hadn't been hurt but if he mentioned it there'd be a different story. However, the principal still knew about the other incident. He wasn't off the hook yet. But that one wasn't his fault. Why was it always him?

Over the next 10 minutes the two boys were lectured at by Mr. S. When he asked them questions, they gave the now familiar answers, edited slightly to fit the situation. At the end, nothing was resolved, nothing had changed. Anthony was given another warning, another slap on the wrists and the threat of a call home next time. Same thing as the last 3 'incidents.'

The boys went to the next class and went back to their 'normal' day at school. Anthony went back to his group of friends and through the rest of the day, Spencer could feel one of their group members watching him. He grew steadily more jumpy as the day progressed. He avoided the cafeteria at lunch, he didn't have lunch anyway so he spent the lunch period in an empty classroom. He had previously went to the library to avoid his classmates but they weren't entirely stupid and they'd found him. They hadn't started looking in classrooms for him yet, so he felt relatively safe. Then lunch ended and he hurried to his next class. Only two more classes before the school day ended. One hour and forty-five minutes.

The same thought was on the minds of Anthony, Brian, Jessica, and the other 'popular' kids. Spencer was right to be nervous. They had planned it all out during lunch. Some of them had a last period 'study hall.' They were going to leave early to get things ready. They were in charge of making the walk home as scary as possible for little Spencer. That included props and costumes. All they had to do now was wait. One hour and forty five minutes.

It seemed like the day had lasted an eon and a half to Spencer Reid and he was anxious to get home, to... safety? He hoped so. The bell rang and he practically ran to his locker and gathered his things. He was stuck in hallway congestion and it took him longer than he had wanted to get out of the school. But he made it. He didn't even seen any of his antagonists. He heaved a sigh of relief and walked briskly towards his normal route home, a short road, then a cut through a wooded area then two more blocks till his street.

"Here he comes!" one teen whispered to the others. They tensed in preparation for the greatest scare of Spencer's life. A few of their members stepped out of the shadows and made themselves visible. Spencer saw them and tensed, his 'care-free' brisk walk changed to a faster, more frantic pace towards his home. And the rest of the set up.

'Maybe they're just walking home... Then why'd they conceal themselves? Not good... not good... not good' Spencer thought to himself. He tried to appear casual, but it didn't fool even himself. They older kids began to follow him. He couldn't help himself, he started to run. He reached the woods and could sense that something was off but his pursuers were almost on him. He kept going. Kept running.

He reached a turn in the path and looked back, he couldn't see the people who'd be chasing him. That was worse than seeing them. He didn't know where they were. He rounded the corner still running, looking back, and tripped over something that had never been in the path before. He let out a startled cry as his backpack and books he had in his hands went flying and he tried to catch himself. The air was knocked out of him as a landed. He grabbed at his shin, making sure nothing was broken.

He quickly got back to his feet and went to gather his things. He felt eyes watching him as he grabbed his last book. He turned to see what was behind him, what had tripped him up. Before he could fully process what he was seeing an arm shot out of the underbrush and grabbed the boy's arm. Spencer yelped. He dropped his books and tried to free his arm. His heart was pounding too hard in his ears for him to hear the movements behind him. Other hands reached out and grabbed him. His ankles, his other arm, his hair. He turned trying to see his ambushers. They were monsters! His eyes widened and he redoubled his efforts to get away. A small rational voice told him that the monsters were his classmates in costume but panic was clearing any rational thought from his mind.

"Ahhhhh! Please! Let me go! Let go of meeeee! Pllllleaaaaaaase!" Spencer cried out. The reply was distorted laughter and then he felt a cloth being put over his eyes. His world went dark.

"Nononononono! NOOO! Stop! Please!" He began to cry, unable to stop the tears. There were so many hands, so many people, it was too dark. He breathing became erratic. Then his feet left the ground. Another of his screams pierced the air. 'Why can't anyone hear me? Why isn't anyone coming?' He had the sensation of moving. He tried to get away, away from all of those hands... His foot and knee made contact with one attacker.

"Oww! You little... Put him in it." He recognized the voice but it was distorted by a mask and his own fear. 'In? In what?' Spencer felt himself being lowered down. His back reached the ground. But it wasn't the ground. He wildly moved his head side to side, trying to see anything, anything at all. Then he realized... he was in a box, this is what he tripped over. He flailed his arms around to regain some semblance of control.

"Let me out! Let me go! Stop please! Let gohoho of me!" The hands let go. He reached up to the blindfold to be able to see. He tried to sit up. Someone pushed him back down. He moved the cloth out of his eyes just in time to see a lid covering the box, the coffin-like box...with him inside. The world again went black.

"Ohh God! Let me out! Let me OOOUUTTTT! Please!" He hit the sides with as much power as he could. He heard laughter.

"What's wrong? Sacred of the dark?" A distorted voice asked. He let out a whimper, his throat was hurting from screaming. He tried to curl in on himself, but he found that the box, he refused to think of it as a coffin, was too small for him to move that much.

"Did you hear me? Are. You. Afraid. Of. The. DARK?" The distorted voice yelled, punctuating the last word with a kick to the side of the box, causing Spencer to flinch and hit his head.

"Y-Ye-Yes! Yes! I'm afraid! I'm afraid! I'm scared! Let me out please!" He begged the voice, sobs wracking his body. 'Why!' Spencer thought.

"Do you wanna be home? Wanna be with your psycho mommy?" A different voice asked. The minute the voice suggested it, home seemed to be the best place on earth, he wanted to see his mom! "Tell us!"

"Yes! I wanna- I wanna go home! Please! Let me go home!"

"How 'bout your mommy? Wanna see your mommy? Call out for her!" Another foot collided with the side of the box.

"Mom! Help! I wanna go home! I wanna see my mom! Please! Let me gooooooo!" He kicked at the box, hit out at it with his hands, scratched at the lid with his nails. The box was kicked back in response. "Let me go... please... someone... help me!" His voice was growing weaker and the adrenaline was wearing off. He had lost track of time. It felt like it had been hours, or days that he'd been in the box. "Please! Let me go..."

"No." One word. That's all it took to rejuvenate Spencer's cries for freedom. He ignored the pain in his throat, in his chest, in his aching arms and legs.

"AHHHHHHH! LET ME GOOOO! LET ME OUTTT! PLEAAAASEE! OPEN THIS LID! ARRRRHHHH!"

"SHUT UP! Maybe we'll open the lid." A new voice said. Spencer immediately stopped screaming, stopped hitting the box, even held his breath. There was a full minute of silence.

"Hello? Anyone?" Spencer asked quietly. He strained his ears to hear anything. 'Oh god, they can't've left me! This is a joke, a nightmare! Maybe I'll wake up soon...'

"Please... don't leave me here!"

"Can't stay quiet for a minute, can he?" Said a voice on the outside. Spencer took a deep breath, glad he wasn't abandoned.

"Pathetic. Maybe we should leave 'im." This conversation had been planned, they wanted to see their victim's reaction. They heard deep sob.

"Please. Please. Don't leave me here. I'll do anything. I won't tell anyone! I swear, just please. Let me-let me go." This was better than any of them could've expected.

"Aww, soo cute! Ok likkle Spency, we'll let you go. I'm going to unlatch the coffin cover, mhm'k? But! You have to count to 666 out loud before you can come out. Trust me, we'll know if you don't and you'll regret it. Start counting!" The speaker unlatched the box and most of the crowd went on their way, towards their own homes. A few stayed behind, to make sure he counted to the designated number.

Spencer did as he was told and less than ten minutes later he opened the lid and forced himself out of it. The remaining spectators saw that he was a complete mess. His face was all puffy and his eyes were red. His arms had scratches from his first fall and from his escape attempts. His hair was even more messed up than normal and his body was almost soaked in sweat. They stifled a laugh, not wanting to alert him to their presence. He finally stood up, wobbly on his feet. He took a step and cried out in pain. He'd somehow hurt his ankle kicking the box. He slowly moved around gathering his books and papers that he could see. He started to limp off towards his house.

One of the remaining spectators, her name was Izzy, wasn't really a big fan of doing this at the beginning, now she was sure it was just cruel. She was done just standing by. She left the others and went back down the path a little ways and approached Spencer calling out as she got closer, feigning ignorance of the last half hour.

"Spencer?" She asked. He jumped, looking around with wide, terrified eyes. His eyes made her positive that she was now doing the right thing.

"It's me, Izzy, from you English class. Are you ok? What happened?" She walked towards him slowly. He broke eye contact.

" 'm fine." He mumbled.

"No you're not. Let me help you, let me at least help you get home. I can carry your bag." She offered, she couldn't believe that he had said he was fine. After what he just went through... he was just going to brush it off!

"Y-you don't have to..." He started. She shook her head.

"I want to, and you could use it." She informed him with a small smile. 'If you don't let me help you, I will feel guilty for the rest of my life...' she thought to herself. He nodded shyly.

"Ok... thanks, I appreciate it." She took his bag and they slowly walked down the path together. He was grimacing in pain after they had gone about 50 yards. They were almost out of the woods, literally. They still had two blocks to cover after that.

"I could call my older sister, she could give us a ride to your house." Izzy offered.

Under normal circumstances, there was no way Spencer would even contemplate the idea of letting a stranger give him a ride home. But these weren't normal circumstances and he felt on the edge of collapse. He nodded.

"Ok, we're almost to the road, I'll give her a call and you can sit while we wait for her." Spencer smiled at her. It was a small smile, but she liked it.

"Thank you." He said simply. "For helping me, for everything. 'M sorry, there're probably other thing you want to be doing tonight, I mean, it's Halloween."

"No, helping you is much better than any of the screw-ball things I could be doing." She then called her sister. "She said she'll be here within 5 minutes."

Spencer was feeling very conflicted but he decided to stop over analyzing everything at the moment. There'd be time for that later, right now thinking took too much energy. So he sat down on the curb and smiled. He'd found a friend.

'Halloween,' he thought to himself, 'is the best day of the year.'

"On the darkest day there is always light and now I see it too, but I never liked the rain till I walked through it with you." ~Clint Black, _Like the Rain_

_AN: I warned you, I'm twisted, but I think that it ended on a kinda high note right? Please let me know what you think!_


End file.
